Red Rain
by nightdancer342
Summary: Patrick Jane returns to the CBI after his four year absence from the murder of his wife and child by famed serial murderer Red John. He is assigned a new team of investigators, and he meets Teresa Lisbon for the first time. Story in progress R&R! Thx!
1. Maverick

Minelli shook his head, sinking back into his office chair. Any moment now, Patrick Jane would be coming through the door. It was the first time he had heard from him in maybe, four years? Then, out of the blue, he gets a phone call from Jane telling him that he would like to come back and work for the CBI for the first time since the murders of his wife and child. Yet, only on one condition: He was to be put back on the Red John case and he wanted to work with the team who currently had it. That would be Lisbon.

Minelli hadn't discussed this with her, and he was sure that she wouldn't be too pleased if he assigned her a 'consultant'. After all, she was an ambitious woman, who would probably take that as an insult to her work. What was he to do? He told Jane to just come in, and they could talk about it face-to-face. The truth was, Minelli wanted the time to think it over. It was tempting- Jane had closed so many cases at the CBI in the past that he could have taken over for the entire building. In the last month, they had been having a rather pitiful number of closed cases, and the new ones were now in a large pile on his desk, yet to be sorted through. Knowing Patrick Jane, he wouldn't take no for an answer even if his life depended on it. He was sure to depart from the CBI building and never return if Minelli turned him down. So what was there to do but to assign him to the Red John case? It had been four years after all, since his tragedy, and he seemed stable enough when he had talked to him on the phone. Was it really worth losing him by turning him down on the case? If there was one person who would be capable of finding Red John, it would be Jane.

* * *

The silver car pulled into the parking lot of the CBI. It was an old model, very unique, and much like it's owner in many regards- it was showy, charming and intriguing, and yet at the same time, unreliable and prone to breaking down frequently-- which could potentially cause many accidents-- very much like it's driver, indeed.

The engine died loudly as the keys were removed and a pair of brown shoes stepped out and began to walk toward the red brick building. He came through the door, and went upstairs to the office he knew resided on the far end of the hall. A multitude of busy agents were tapping away at their computers or answering phone calls and paid him little mind as he passed through to his destination: opening the door that said "Minelli".

"Patrick Jane!" A large smile replaced the previous look of preoccupation on Minelli's face. As he leapt from the chair moving toward the handsome blond man who had just entered the office.

"Hello, Minelli." Jane smiled back politely with his set of white teeth, reaching out his hand to shake the grabby one in front of him.

"It's nice to see you again!" Minelli continued as he wrung Patrick's hand, releasing it and returning to his desk chair, rubbing one of his baggy eyes as he settled himself.

"Mm, Thank you, It's nice to be back." Jane replied calmly, nodding at him. He was getting the warm welcome he had anticipated, and this pleased him. It was certain to Jane, that he would be getting what he wanted dearly, which was to work on the Red John case.

Patrick took the opposing seat, after taking a quick scan over the familiar office; not much had changed in his four year absence-- though it looked like the pictures had been swapped on his desk and there were quite a bit of folders towering up.

"You look very much the same, Jane. I can't believe it's been so long since we've seen each other! It seems like it was only yesterday, when--" The small talk lasted for a good ten minutes, and Jane could tell that Minelli was stalling for time before the conversation would be turning serious. It was clear that he was reluctant to put Jane back on the Red John case- especially for what had already happened.

Perhaps his hesitation was well based, granted on the reasons Patrick Jane had for working on the case. He was on a mission- which was to seek revenge on Red John. He wanted to see this man suffer for what he had done. Jane wanted to watch this man die slowly- he wanted to kill this man, just as he felt he was killed himself on the day his family was murdered. Jane felt like he had become an empty shell, encompassing a troubled and fragile soul within. The mask of serenity and arrogance was gone in the late hours of the night as he lay awake in his bedroom, all alone with only his thoughts as they manically swam around in his head like a group of starving piranhas.

Jane knew Minelli though, he wouldn't be satisfied with that type of talk or behavior in his office, and if Jane wanted to be put back on the case, he knew he would have to play it calm and cool and not alarm Minelli into thinking he was unstable. The office grew silent after a few more minutes of their idle chatter, their conversation coming to a stale-mate after they had discussed everything from the weather to the lazy office workers.

Minelli broke down having no other alternative than to get down to business, He began by heaving a reluctant exhale. "So we were going to discuss the Red John case."

"Yes." Patrick Jane sat up more attentively, as if he was waiting for the verdict from Minelli. It was as important as life-or-death that he worked on the case- without it, Jane was as good as nothing. What other reason and goal would he have to live if he couldn't at least get some sort of satisfactory closure for some of the evil he had caused?

"Here's the thing Jane," Minelli paused, leaning forward onto the table in front of him, resting his clasped hands on the desktop. "I don't know if I can trust you on this case." Jane blinked, taking a deep breath, but before he spoke, Minelli raised a hand and continued. "I don't want any trouble from you on this, and I don't want to deal with the consequences of Lisbon and her thoughts of being assigned a consultant-"

"You don't have to." Patrick said firmly. "You won't even have to talk to her, you can just leave it to me and I'll explain the situation-" Minelli held up his hand to silence him. "What I'm trying to say Jane, is that the CBI can really use you right now, and I can't turn you down." Jane grinned and started to rise, again, Minelli's hand went up. "But Jane, Jane! If you turn crazy on this, you're off the case quicker than you can say 'murder', you got me?" Jane nodded, "Clear as day. Thank you." Jane stood up fully, shaking Minelli's hand with a large grin, and looking him in the eyes.

Minelli pulled open a drawer and retrieved some paper work that he had signed earlier to have him back on as a consultant. "Go give this to the people down at the front desk, and go get a new card made for yourself. Welcome back to the CBI, Jane."

"Thanks Minelli." With that, Patrick spun on his heel making his way for the door. Minelli called out to him, "Wait, Don't you want me to call Lisbon and introduce you both?"

Jane waved him off, "No need! I'd rather go meet her myself if you don't mind- talk to you later."

As Jane left, Minelli settled back into his seat hoping he hadn't just made a mistake. He couldn't ponder it for long however, because the phone rang and it was back to business- as usual.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review if you like it so far! Coming up: Lisbon's reaction to getting assigned a consultant and Jane meets the team.


	2. Casanova

**CHAPTER 2:**

Patrick Jane grabbed the tea bag, settling it into the boiling water, soaking it and swirling it around with a silver spoon. Jane was very particular about his tea and he was also very fond of it, often drinking it whenever possible. It always in some strange way, comforted him by reminding him of his grandmother and her liking for tea. The CBI kitchen was small, but well-equipped as Jane was finding out. He looked inside the refrigerator, and inside the cupboards. It seemed that someone in the department must like to eat. He was snooping, yes-- But there was a valid reason; Jane was adept at looking at people's possessions' and being able to find out their entire character (and who better to do that with than the people he was going to be working with?). It wasn't hard after all- everything people owned, from their choice of car to their favorite candy said much about them.

Jane bent down, opening the last cupboard under the counter. As he shifted through the boxes of stirrers, Agent Cho entered the room. "Excuse me?" The Asian man said, squinting and frowning at the peculiar stranger who was hovering inside the drawer. Patrick ducked out from under the cupboard and turned his head to look at the agent, giving him a pleasant smile. "Hello!" He greeted cheerfully, pushing himself up from the ground and kicking the door closed smoothly with his foot.

"Hi." The agent responded shortly, staring as Jane proceeded to sip his newly made tea and began to rock back and forth on his heels- something more expected from a boy of six or seven, than from a man in his late thirties.

Kimball Cho looked the stranger up and down, deciding that he had never seen the man before in his life. He wondered why he was in the CBI kitchen- he didn't have a badge. "Who are you?" Cho asked bluntly, "What are you doing in the CBI kitchen? Do you work here?"

"Let me guess, you're the interrogator?" Jane said thoughtfully, appearing as if he was amused by all of this. Cho wondered if the question was poised because he had sounded rude. He had just been straight-forward, and had no intention of being rude.

"I suppose you could say that, yes." Cho was mainly doing the interrogation work, because he was the best at it.

Jane took a sip from his tea cup, "You're very good."

"…Thank you."

Cho stared at the stranger expectantly, waiting for him to answer his questions- he didn't. He seemed too preoccupied with his own thoughts as he hummed a tune that sounded something like a song that would be played on a merry-go-round, his green eyes staring off into space. "Uh, Who are you?"

Jane started as if roused from a daydream, "Ah! I'm Patrick Jane- it's very nice to meet you…?"

"-Kimball Cho." The Agent answered.

"Cho… yes, very nice to meet you." Jane reached out and shook his hand, smiling warmly.

"Nice to meet you too. Do you work here?" Cho repeated.

"Yes, I'm a…" Jane pulled out his new card with a flourishing movement, reading the official job label, "…'Consultant' for the CBI." He gave Cho a grin, tucking the card back into his front pocket.

"Oh. OK then." Cho said with a nod, obviously content with that answer and had no more curiosity about the situation. He just went and opened the refrigerator and began to busy himself with finding items for a sandwich. Jane continued to watch him, leaning up against the counter. He was amused that there were no further follow-up questions from Cho. Perhaps his only question had been if Patrick Jane was supposed to be in the CBI kitchen. It was plainly obvious this agent didn't know the questions that would be important to ask- but then, Jane supposed, it wasn't common that one would ask if he would be joining his team, though to Patrick Jane, it would seem obvious that if a stranger was in a particular kitchen area that belonged to only a small amount of various teams on the floor, that it would be one of those teams that the new-comer would be joining.

Cho finished making his sandwich and nodded at Jane curtly, 'Have a nice day' was all he said before leaving the room. Patrick just waved, finishing the last of his tea. With that, he placed the tea cup down and swaggered out of the room, coming to halt in the hallway area in front of a glass door that said:

**TERESA LISBON**

**Senior Agent - CBI**

Jane looked through the window at the woman who the name must belong to. She wasn't a large woman, and much more feminine than Jane would have expected- but not at all a lax woman. She was at the moment, lecturing one of her agents, much like a mother hen scolding her baby chicks.

"It's too sloppy, Rigsby! You expect me to hand this into Minelli? It's illegible! Neither my boss, nor I, have the time to try to decipher your bad handwriting. Either you go and type it up or you write it neater!" Lisbon exclaimed, handing back a stack of papers to a large, meek-looking man.

"Yes Boss." Was Rigsby's reply. He opened the glass door, and passed Jane without a glance, murmuring something under his breath that sounded like, "I don't have bad handwriting."

Lisbon returned to her file, thumbing over it as she read, making notes every so often. Patrick Jane leaned against the wall, crossing his arms, watching her as she worked.

It was clear that she was very neat, liked appearing professional, and being organized. Her need for control was apparent, her whole demeanor toward her other agents was somewhat bossy, and Jane's guess was that she felt the need to be respected and that she had developed some sort of complex over it. It was clear that she didn't have a whole lot of patience for slacking, and also that she was a dog-person.

Jane could understand now why Minelli was worried about how Lisbon would take being assigned a consultant- especially one like Patrick Jane. After all, he was just about as opposite from her as one could be.

Feeling eyes watching her, Lisbon looked up for the source: They belonged to an attractive man with a head of blond locks leaning against the wall by her door, watching her with a growing smirk of amusement on his handsome face as both of their green eyes met.

Then, he winked at her!

Teresa looked away and scowled. It was apparent that he thought of himself as quite the Casanova- even if he did look like Cupid, it didn't mean he was! She couldn't help but take that expression on his face as one she would get from a man who was trying to hit on her.

What was it with men? They never respected a woman. Not even in a work place. Lisbon snapped her file shut and pushed herself up, she wasn't very tall, but she had a presence to her that showed she meant business. She headed toward the door, to ask the man what he wanted- though, she could already guess- it was already apparent with that large toothy grin that he thought so irresistible. With hostility, she pushed open her door, giving the man a polite smile- though, not trying too hard to hide her true feelings of distaste at his conduct.

"Can I help you?" Teresa Lisbon asked, her tone serious.

"No, I don't think so." Jane replied playfully. "But I may be able to help you."

_Oh great, what a line!_ Teresa thought to herself.

"Oh really? With what exactly?" Lisbon asked coolly.

"Your cases, perhaps?" Jane replied, with a smile to her frown of confusion. He knew what she was thinking, and he couldn't help but feel a little victorious over his abilities to call her character traits before even talking with her. Jane reluctantly resisted the urge to play with her. He reached into his pocket, digging for his card. He pulled it out, flashing it to her.

"I'm Patrick Jane, Your new consultant."

"Oh- I-!" Lisbon was caught-off-guard, and she suddenly felt very foolish as a rush of embarrassment washed over her. Whatever she had been expecting, it hadn't been this…How could she have known what he was doing there? Minelli hadn't told her that she was getting a "consultant"... _wait…what?_

"_Consultant_? What do I need a consultant for?" Lisbon said, speaking her thoughts out-loud.

"Err...You don't exactly, but you just happen to be the name I drew out of the hat." Jane replied, with a large grin. It was the truth after-all; She just happened to be the one who had the Red John case that he had wanted to work on so dearly.

Lisbon blinked, looking at him for a moment. She held up a finger, "Just a minute." She began to walk swiftly past him towards Minelli's office.

Jane jogged to catch up with her, "Lisbon, wait! I'll explain everything." Teresa stopped, turning to face him in an intimidating way, with a skeptical look on her face. She was actually a little scary. Less like a mother hen now, and more like an angry snake.

"Minelli didn't mention that I'd be getting any consultant. So I think I would like to ask him about it first, if you don't mind, Mr. Jane."

Patrick held up his hands to show passiveness. "Oh, alright. Go right ahead."

Teresa hadn't waited for his permission though, she had already marched away to her bosses office.

Jane watched as she knocked on the door and disappeared inside the office. This was going to be a start of a very interesting relationship.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! I appreciate it (also, it helps remind me to get busy and update!) I should be updating pretty soon...Stay tuned!


	3. Poison Arrow

**CHAPTER 3:**

Minelli resisted the urge to kick himself in the ass as he rubbed his tired eyes. How did he know this would happen? If there was one fault for Patrick Jane, it was his hobby of playing with people's heads that he shouldn't. He thought that Jane had changed, considering after what happened when he played with the wrong guy- and yet, back at the CBI on the first day, he goes settling down back into his old habits. Jane always went too far! How could have Minelli forgotten so easily all the personal messes Jane made around the office?

"I wasn't told that I was getting a consultant! Then, on top of that, he doesn't even introduce himself, he just stands outside my door, staring at me? What was I supposed to think?" Lisbon exclaimed.

"Well, Lisbon…" Minelli began, "Jane is an…unusual sort."

Lisbon gaped at Minelli; 'Unusual?' Well, she just about gathered that herself. What she wanted an explanation for why she wasn't informed he would be joining her team before she had made an idiot of herself.

"Alright, granted, but why did you assign him to my team?"

"Actually I didn't. He requested to be on your team."

Lisbon resisted the urge to sigh in exasperation from the utter lack of explanation. "Boss, Why would he request-"

"Well, it wasn't your team he requested Lisbon, it was your case: Red John."

Lisbon opened her mouth to argue that just because someone requested a case, they shouldn't be given it- but Minelli continued, "Patrick Jane was working this case back five years ago. In fact, He gathered most of the stuff written in those case files that we have on Red John. I couldn't pass him up when he offered to come back to the CBI."

"Really? That's quite impressive." Teresa replied, mellowing down at this news. Maybe he would be more valuable than she initially thought.

"He used to work as a psychic." Minelli added.

Teresa's jaw dropped, she had of course heard around the department years back about the amazing psychic who could close cases (who hadn't heard about it?) She had thought the name "Patrick Jane" had sounded familiar, as it was sort of a unique combination- but she had no idea…

Suddenly it struck her exactly where she knew the name.

Lisbon looked at Minelli in shock, "Oh my god...He's the one who had his family murdered by Red John, isn't he?"

Minelli nodded.

"What are you thinking, assigning him to this case?" Lisbon exclaimed her hands going out to express her point. "His family were victims of this serial murderer, and you're expecting him to work on this case, in a detached manner? Boss, no disrespect, but I think that this is a bad idea. There's no way! Boss, He's not going to be able to work this case in an unbiased way- he's too personally attached to it!"

"To tell you the truth Lisbon, I don't care how he works it as long as it gets solved. It's been almost ten years that Red John has been out murdering and it needs to come to an end! If there's anyone who can solve it, it's Patrick Jane.

He can be a real pain-in-the-ass, but he's a genius."

* * *

Patrick Jane was going down the hall to the main offices where the rest of his new CBI team worked. Yes, there sat Agents Cho and Rigsby, both looking over files at their own desks. Agent Rigsby was sneaking glorified bites of the sandwich Cho had apparently given him. Jane could only guess that Rigsby was the man who was fond of food, and that Lisbon had gotten down on him for eating while they were working, which was why he was looking so guilty.

Cho, bringing him a sandwich even though he wasn't supposed to have one, told Jane that he was less rule oriented, and a bit of an instigator or an enabler. Cho was definitely going to be easy to work with.

Patrick Jane opened the door, entering in. Both agents raised their eyes. Cho looked mildly surprised at seeing him there. "Hello again!" Jane exclaimed, with a hearty wave at Kimball.

"Ah, before you say anything more, I just want to introduce myself to both of you as Patrick Jane. I'm your new team consultant."

Rigsby smiled in acceptance, standing up and offering his hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you, Jane."

"You're our team consultant?" Cho blinked wondering why he hadn't explained this earlier when they had met in the kitchen. "Why do we need a consultant?"

"Well, Hmmm… That's a good question. I don't know whether you need me or not, but I'm here." Jane turned away from Cho and Rigsby and bent down over Lisbon's desk, looking at her various pictures and other paraphernalia that she kept.

Cho and Rigsby exchanged looks, but didn't say anything as Jane sat down in her chair- bouncing it as if to test the springs and leaning back into it, with his arms on the rests, closing his eyes.

Cho did a low warning whistle, because he could see Lisbon coming down the hall back to the offices. The two agents glanced anxiously at Jane who still had his eyes closed, sitting in her chair- which was sure to be forbidden. He didn't make any sign of noticing that Lisbon was returning, so, without anymore time to warn Jane; Rigsby hurriedly brushed crumbs off of his desk and he and Cho diverted their eyes, burying themselves into their work.

Lisbon opened the door, and looked at Cho and Rigsby who were oddly focused in their files- something very unusual to behold. "What's the matter with you two?" Rigsby shook his head looking exceptionally guilty, and Cho just shrugged, their eyes still fixed on the papers in front of them. Lisbon narrowed her eyes suspiciously and turned towards her desk, suddenly spotting Jane, sitting back in her chair with his eyes closed as if he had gone to sleep.

Lisbon took a deep breath at the sight of him. The things Minelli had told her in his office were still swirling around in her mind. How was she supposed to handle someone like Patrick Jane, when his family had been murdered by Red John? The case that they were going to work on together?

She folded her hands in front of herself, and cleared her throat to get his attention, "Mr. Jane?"

Patrick smiled, his eyes still closed as he moved his hands over her desk.

Lisbon took a deep breath, "Mr. Jane? What are you doing?"

Jane's eyes popped open, and focused on the brunette woman who was staring at him, her hands on her hips, her brow furrowed, looking perplexed.

"Oh, uh… I was just getting a feel." Jane explained, pleasantly watching her as she fluttered her eyes in complete confusion at his reply. He smiled waiting expectantly for her to ask, but she didn't.

"I would…um… I would like to speak to you, privately…in my office." Lisbon said, trying to sound controlled. Her mind was still reeling, not only from the information that Minelli had given her, but also the fact that Jane was sitting at her desk, doing…god only knew.

"Alright, sure." Jane pushed himself up, and came around the desk towards her, brandishing a hand toward the door. "Lead the way!" He gave the two male agents a large grin and a wink as he followed her to her personal office. Jane glanced back and saw Cho and Rigsby put their heads together as he was walked away.

Lisbon pushed open the door to her office and held it as Jane entered. "Please sit down." She said, moving around to go sit down in her chair. Jane obeyed, sitting in his correct seat, crossing his legs, and leaning on one elbow, watching her as she got settled.

He glanced down at her neckline, at the gold jewelry that had been brought to his attention. She was wearing a cross necklace. So, she was apparently a Christian and a believer of 'God'. Or maybe, just maybe, it was something she considered a good luck charm, or perhaps… something very dear to her, like a gift, possibly passed down from her mother.

Lisbon looked at him for a moment before beginning, "Mr. Jane… It has been brought to my attention that you joined my team so that you could work on the Red John case. Is that true?"

"Yes, it is." Jane adjusted himself to mirror her, folding his hands as she was.

"Ok…Well, It has also been brought to my attention that your family were victims of the Red John case and-"

Jane shook his head, putting up a hand, and interrupting as he often had the habit of doing when spotting something innately wrong. "Uh, no, no… You have it wrong. Red John doesn't consider the people he kills as victims, no, that's not his style- the ones who are dead, are merely pawns in his sick psychological game. His true and targeted victims are the living people that he affects. Ah--Think of him as a poison arrow; the initial blow hurts, but the poison just continues to spread, consuming it's victim."

Lisbon nodded slowly, taking what he said into consideration. "Alright . . . " She was momentarily caught off-guard, and a little impressed with his express knowledge. She hadn't ever met anyone like Mr. Jane in her life- certainly no one who had the ability to leave her speechless, and someone who was so blatantly un-intimidated by her. "My point was, Mr. Jane-"

"Just 'Jane' please. This whole 'Mister' thing is a little too formal sounding." Jane said with a smile.

Lisbon forced a smile in return, beginning to feel a little annoyed that she was continually being interrupted. "Yes, well, Jane, I don't mean to sound rude, but I'm not sure if Minelli is making a very good choice by placing you on the Red John case."

"Oh he is, I assure you." Jane replied. "I will be able to solve it. Minelli knows this, which is why he approved that I could work on the case. Understanding is key to solving this thing. Red John understands his victims, and to solve the case, is to understand the killer."

Lisbon stared at him for a moment. She had to admit, even against her better judgment, Jane did make an interesting point with his view-point on Red John and since Minelli had already 'Okayed' it… Lisbon threw up her hands in surrender, after-all, she couldn't be blamed if this didn't work out.

"Alright, well, Welcome to the team, Jane." She held out her hand, and Patrick shook it. "Thank you Lisbon. I look forward to working with you."

* * *

A/N: Thanks again for the reviews!! More chapters will be coming your way!!


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